Out of Nowhere: Who really chose Palin?

I have been trying to determine who knew that Palin was in the running for republican Vice President nominee, prior to the announcement.

Most republicans I know had never heard of her until the press conference announcing McCain's choice. Yet there are "artifacts" on the web
demonstrating that somebody considered her the best choice for the Republicans. This thread is an attempt to find out who those people are.

1. Find the earliest reference to Sarah Palin as a VP nominee.
2. Find out who within the republican party considered her for VP
3. Who in the media first considered her as a real possibility
4. When Rush Limbaugh claimed she was in the running. (a friend says Lush Rainbow first mentioned her in May, but just while reading a list of
names; no bio details or anything . . .

I'm doing this because I hope it would shed some light on the behind-the-scenes decision-making of the GOP.

Flagged. I'm going to be following this thread closely because I have the same questions: who, what, why, huh. It almost seemed like we were side
swiped with the announcement-- honestly the first time I ever heard her name was when she was announced as the VP running mate.

Originally posted by Alora
Flagged. I'm going to be following this thread closely because I have the same questions: who, what, why, huh. It almost seemed like we were side
swiped with the announcement-- honestly the first time I ever heard her name was when she was announced as the VP running mate.

democrats were side swiped. not conservatives.
if you listen to Rush religiously as I do, you would have known about her back in February 3d of this year.
but nobody paid her any attention back then (except Glenn Beck).

According to both the Aug. 29 Anchorage Daily News and the June 13 Colorado Springs Gazette, Sarah Palin became John McCain's vice presidential
candidate largely through the machinations of someone even younger and less experienced than herself. From the Anchorage Daily News:

The hype can probably be traced to the Web site of a 21-year-old college senior* majoring in political science at the University of Colorado in
Colorado Springs. Adam Brickley, a political buff who will graduate in May, started a "Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President" blog last year and has
relentlessly promoted the idea ever since.

Here is an in-depth story of Palin's ascent from beauty queen to VP
candidate. It was originally written in 2006. I think it started a lot longer ago than May.

Even Wikipedia says she was being "groomed" for bigger things.

CHOSEN ONE

Palin's rise came as the Valley's politics were changing sharply from Democratic to Republican.
...
The national Republican Party was encouraging local party officials to groom a new generation of candidates, officials say. Palin was an obvious
selection, say local party officials Roy and June Burkhart of Willow. Roy is head of the District 15 party, while June sits on the state party's
executive board.

"Not only that, we've got some in the bullpen. You'll be hearing about them, too," Roy Burkhart said recently.

In Palin's last year as mayor, she headed straight to her next race, entering the 2002 Republican primary for lieutenant governor. The winner was
going to run at the side of Frank Murkowski.

"She thought it would be a very good opportunity to be mentored," said Babcock, who is now manager of government affairs for Matanuska Electric
Association and a close Palin confidant. "She had a lot of confidence she was going to win that race."

I don't remember the ladies name but she went off on the Dems when they didn't pick Hillary and started up a protest group who John McCain met with
a few months ago.

This lady mentioned that when McCain was talking to them, he discussed Palin as a possible VP pick and told them all about her. Supposedly this group
of Hillary supporters were very excited about the possibility of McCain chosing Palin and told him so.

And if the RNC is letting individual college students pick national office-seekers, then the parties are a heckuva lot more responsive than they seem
. . .

PRESS: Where'd you find you're VP, McCain?
MCCAIN: I found her on ebay, dude.

College bloggers, acting alone, choosing the candidates sounds like even more of a conspiracy than if a handful of really old, rich white guys
are making all the decisions in a smoke-filled boardroom somewhere.

Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC’s spectacle in Denver, the country’s most influential conservatives met
quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an
ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.

CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. At a secret 2000 meeting of the CNP, George W.
Bush promised to nominate only pro-life judges; in 2004, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the group, “The destiny of the nation is on the
shoulders of the conservative movement.” This year, thanks to Sarah Palin’s selection, the movement may have finally aligned itself behind the
campaign of John McCain…

The members of the Council for National Policy are the hidden hand behind McCain’s Palin pick. With her selection, the Republican nominee is
suddenly — and unexpectedly — assured of the support of a movement that once opposed his candidacy with all its might. Case in point: while Dobson
once said he could “never” vote for McCain, he issued a statement last week hailing Palin as an “outstanding” choice. If Dobson’s enthusiasm
for Palin is any indication, he may soon emerge from his bunker in Colorado Springs to endorse McCain, providing the Republican nominee with the
grassroots support of the Christian right’s single most influential figure.

Elections are driven by money and emotion - most of which is derived from the base. In this case, evangelicals and/or the ultra-right wing of the GOP.
You know, the "values voters".

She covers all of the bases. The fact that she kept her special needs baby and her daughter is pregnant and keeping her baby as well makes her a hero
to them. Additionally, the fact that she's a gun-toting, moose-hunting rural babe makes her a goddess to the the rest of the right.

The GOP has to pull out all of the stops because nothing less than control of the SCOTUS is at stake - they had to bring home the base. It was never
about tapping the Hillary vote.

One of the better early references I've found has been a CSPAN interview with Palin from February 24th where she is specifically asked about serving
as McCain's VP (apparently, this question was prompted by an AP article mentioning her as a possibility, according to the interviewer). It is at
the very end of the clip.

Additionally (and I really hate to link my own old post), but I had been hearing about Sarah Palin as a darkhorse possibility for several months
prior to her selection. I make mention of this in a thread from June 1st:

The GOP had plans for her well before August. She was considered for the open Senate seat of then Gov. Frank Murkowski back in 2002. Those portraying
her as a total unknown are inaccurate as evidenced by the Glen Beck and Rush comments others have posted as well. She was already on the horizon as a
possible rising star in the GOP when she defeated the incumbent Gov. Murkowski in the Rep. Gubernatorial primary.

Yep. She may not have been well known outside of conservative circles, but within, she and Bobby Jindal are widely considered the two best young
national prospects the GOP has. She was very much considered a rising star in the Republican ranks for quite some time prior to her selection as
McCain's VP.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.